


What if I told you it was all meant to be?

by LilyRosePotter



Series: In this moment forever [1]
Category: Pod Save America (RPF)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Polyamory, Threesome - F/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-10
Updated: 2018-03-10
Packaged: 2019-03-29 08:35:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13923372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilyRosePotter/pseuds/LilyRosePotter
Summary: Emily meets Tommy Vietor two minutes into her college life. She has no idea how consequential that meeting is going to be.





	What if I told you it was all meant to be?

**Author's Note:**

> My college nostalgia decided to come out as evietreau nonsense. As always, millions of hats ought to be tipped to Maggie and Katy for shepherding this through furious blushing and lots of annoyed yelling.

Emily meets Tommy Vietor two minutes into her college life. She has no idea, when she nods at the cute guy offering to carry her sleeping bag to the gear pile, how consequential that meeting is going to be.

“I’m Emily,” she says, waving goodbye to her parents who are looking a little weepy even though they’ll be back next week to move her into her dorm room.

“Tommy.” He has a nice smile, Em thinks, following him across the grass to the outdoor adventure building. “I got here last night for early arrival so I’ve just been killing time until more people show up. Which trip are you on?”

“Canoeing. I haven’t really done it before, outside of like, girl scout camp in elementary school, so I’m a little nervous. You?” 

“I’m doing canoeing too!” He looks genuinely delighted and Emily can feel some of her nerves about being totally incapable of making friends dissipate. “I’m an Eagle Scout though and we had to do a couple long haul canoeing trips so don’t worry, I’ll be your expert.” 

“I’ll count on you then,” Emily says with a giggle. 

 

* * *

 

Emily falls out of her canoe on the third day of the trip. They’re all pulling up to the shore to set up camp for the night when she hears a shout from behind her and then the whole boat is going over.

She comes up sputtering to chaos all around her. The water isn’t deep, she can stand easily and even if she couldn’t, she’s a strong swimmer from years of lessons. She's fine really, mostly just pissed off at the sudden dunking. Judging by the reactions of everyone else on the trip, however, she’s in danger of drowning.

Both of the trip leaders are yelling, trying to be heard over the collective freakout of eight teenagers. Hallie is already on the shore calling directions to right the canoe, while Mike is in the back canoe chastising the others to “stay in your own goddamn boats, don’t flip any more over.”

“Look I didn’t think it was actually going to flip,” Tim is explaining behind her and Emily rolls her eyes. 

“Maybe you shouldn’t have kept fooling around then,” she says sharply. They’ve been sharing a canoe for two days and this was inevitable really, he can’t stop fucking around with the paddle and trying to balance in weird positions on the seat. He’s still complaining as she reaches for the boat to try to right it. 

She fails miserably of course. The canoe is too heavy for her to manage well on her own when it’s not full of water. On her second attempt, she gets the edge out of the water before it comes slamming back down, the force and splash knocking her backwards into the water again. 

She’s saved from going under by strong arms grabbing her from behind. “I got you,” Tommy says, pushing her back to her feet. “I’ll get the back, you get the front?"

Emily tamps down the part of her that wants to bristle and insist she can do it herself. She can’t and she’d rather have Tommy’s help than anyone else on the trip. She’s pretty sure he isn’t going to lord it over her later. “Yeah. On three?”

They manage to get the canoe righted and tow it to shore. Tommy pushes it up on the bank and climbs up after it before offering Emily a hand. “Thank god for waterproof bags right?”

A half hour later, she’s sorting through her bag in the tent, trying to find a full outfit that isn’t a little bit damp when Tommy appears in the opening. “How’s it looking?” 

Emily is cold and wet and miserable. “The waterproofing did not live up to its name. I don’t have a dry sweatshirt, it’s August why is it so cold?”

“Mostly cause you’re still in wet clothes probably,” Tommy points out, not unreasonably, but she growls at him anyway. “I have an extra hoodie. I’ll grab it for you. You need anything else?”

“No.” He turns away and Emily reaches to close the zipper so she can change. “Thanks!” she calls belatedly after him. 

When she emerges to join everyone at the campfire, Tommy pats the spot beside him and holds out the promised hoodie. It dwarfs her when she pulls it on but it’s soft and cozy and has a pleasant lingering detergent smell mixed with the campfire smoke and telltale smell of teenage boy. “What do you think, will I fit right in with the Milton Lacrosse team now?” she asks, holding out her arms like she’s modelling. 

“Totally,” Tommy giggles at her as she sits down next to him. “Warm enough?” 

“Yeah. You may never get this back.”

 

* * *

 

If pressed, Emily couldn’t remember who suggested their weekly brunch dates. But by a month into the semester she looks forward to Sunday mornings more than any other part of the week. She and Tommy don’t have any classes together and they live in different dorms and are starting to get into different activities. They see each other plenty during the week, it’s a small school, but Sunday brunch is just theirs.

“Okay so if my psych professor doesn’t stop building up this midterm I might have a breakdown,” Emily says as she slides into the dining hall booth across from Tommy. “I spent all day yesterday in the library and I was certain that I had everything down but then she sent out another set of practice questions and ugh.”

“Yeah,”  Tommy says, clearly not actually listening to her. She waves a hand in front of his face and he looks at her like he’s surprised to see her there. 

“Where’s your head this morning?”

“I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.” He’s preemptively flushing, anticipating her next question.

“Oooohh,” Emily giggles conspiratorially. “Who was the lucky guy or gal? Will we be seeing them again?”

“His name is Adam, I think he’s a junior and no probably not, though I wouldn’t object.” He waggles his eyebrows at her even as his face turns completely red. 

Talking to Tommy about sex is a fascinating study in watching New England repression war with toxic masculinity war with the commitment to be open and sex positive he’d picked up at one of the orientation sessions everyone else had slept through. Emily loves every second of it. 

“Tell me everything, let me live vicariously through your exploits while I die in a pile of neurotransmitters and beta blockers flashcards.”

 

* * *

 

“I’m just saying, I thought we were supposed to be done with the whole pledging thing. We’re in the thing now, why do we have to be hazed with surprise dates?” Emily whines as she finishes applying eyeliner. 

She can see Ashley rolling her eyes in the mirror. “Lighten up Em, it’s fun!”

It is not fun. It’s a dumb sorority tradition where for your first formal, your big picks a date for you and you find out who they’ve chosen when you show up. There are rumours about having your hands taped together to a bottle of alcohol you have to finish by the end of the night. Emily is, not looking forward to it. 

“You just expect to be set up with the guy you’ve been dropping hints about all month,” she retorts.

Ashley shrugs at her unrepentantly. “Should have dropped your own hints.”

“I told you. I don’t have any hints to drop. I’m not seeking a boyfriend. I’d just prefer to choose my own party companions thank you very much.” 

Emily’s mood has not improved by the time they get to the formal. There are blindfolds involved. “This is a little dungeon-y,” she complains as her big ties the cloth over her face. 

“Oh chill out,” Katy says, laughing. “You’re almost done and then you can get drunk and dance with me on the off chance I’ve fucked this up.” She tugs Emily forward gently by the hands. 

“I am holding you personally responsible for this night,” Emily mutters. “I hope you’re okay with that in exchange for participation in this nonconsensual ritual.” A familiar laugh stops her in her tracks. 

“I think I’ll sleep okay tonight.” Katy’s hands are behind her head again and then she's stepping away, giggling, leaving Em face to face with Tommy. He’s looking at her with an indulgently fond smile. 

“Nonconsensual ritual? Laying it on a little thick for a girl who’s drunk the ‘sisterhood’ kool-aid.” 

“Oh yes, you’ve never been overdramatic in your life. Philosophy is pointless because we’re all going to die, but I’m going to spend four years learning it all.” Tommy laughs and slings an arm around her shoulders to steer her towards the drinks. 

Formal is a lot more fun than Emily thought it was going to be. At the end of the night Tommy walks her back to her dorm. They pause outside the entryway and he smiles down at her, slow and sweet. “Night Em.” 

He takes two steps down the stairs before she reaches out to grab his wrist, surprising herself as much as him. Emily bites her lip, thinking. Might as well jump, she tells herself, reaching for Tommy’s shoulder with her other hand. “Hey.” 

“Hey Em.” He looks slightly puzzled, but he’s smiling at her. Emily looks at him, considering. 

“I’m going to kiss you now, okay?” she says. His eyes widen and he nods, his hands reaching around her, pulling her close as she leans in. Emily has always thought it was a cliche, the whole fireworks thing, but damn if kissing Tommy doesn’t feel like explosions. 

They don’t break apart until they’re interrupted by a couple of drunk guys stumbling past them into the building. “Come on,” Emily says, tugging Tommy into the dorm. He follows obligingly to her room. 

“f.r.i.e.n.d.s?” Emily asks holding up the VHS box, as he jumps up on her bed. Her roommate will be with the guy she’s hooking up with, they’ll have the room to themselves all night. 

“Sure,” Tommy says, reclining against her pillows. “Or, you know what else is on at this hour…” 

“No Thomas. We are not watching QVC.” Emily slides the tape in and climbs up to cuddle under his arm. He bends to kiss the top of her head with a quiet giggle. They watch Ross adopt a monkey and Chandler’s mom come to visit curled together on the bed. Emily drifts off at some point, head resting on Tommy’s chest. 

In the morning, Tommy runs back to his dorm to put on clothes that aren’t his formalwear before they go to the dining hall for brunch, just like always. Emily hooks her foot around Tommy’s ankle under the table as he’s finishing his coffee. He looks up with a smile and a raised eyebrow. 

“So should we, like go out for dinner or something?” Emily asks, suddenly shy even though she’s pretty sure she knows what the answer is going to be. “Like, dinner not in the dining hall?” 

“Like a date?” He’s joking, she’s ninety percent sure that smirk is deflecting from genuine delight.

“Context clues Tommy. Yes like a date.” She thinks Tommy’s ears might be smiling, that’s how happy he looks.

“Yeah Em. Let’s go out.”

 

* * *

 

Emily meets Jon Favreau two weeks into senior year. She’d like to think that, older and wiser, she knows this time, but when she walks into the first meeting for the Panhellenic Valentine’s Day fundraiser, she has no idea what’s coming. 

There are four of them on the planning committee. Brooke is her sophomore roommate’s little, so they know each other pretty well. Em is pretty sure she hooked up with Matt freshman year. Then there’s Jon, who smirks at her with the confidence of a guy who knows exactly how hot he is, but turns out to be super well prepared with a planning outline. 

Later that week, Em gets out of class and heads to the student union to meet Tommy for dinner. She scans the tables while she’s standing in line to pay for her food, eyes easily picking out Tommy waving at her from the corner. 

When she waves back at Tommy, she’s surprised to see another wave directed at her. Jon is sitting at a table close to the register, surrounded by a pile of books that he doesn’t seem very focused on, smiling at her as he waves. Her face must show her confusion because he immediately turns adorably red and twists in his seat, presumably trying to see who she _is_ waving at.  

Em can’t suppress a giggle at the embarrassed look on his face and then it’s her turn in line. Walking across the room, she stops at Jon’s table where he’s determinedly staring down at the plate in front of him like it’s going to tell him the secrets of the universe. Emily balances her own plate in her left hand so she can squeeze his shoulder in greeting. “Hi! I’ll see you at the meeting tomorrow right?” 

He flushes even deeper, which she wouldn’t have thought possible, and she’s dating the most prone to blushing person in the world. “Yeah, totally, um, yeah.” 

“Great! I can’t wait to hear more about your ideas for the raffle baskets,” Emily says, smiling at him again before continuing on towards Tommy. She knows without turning to see that Jon is watching her walk away.

“Hey,” Tommy says, kissing her hello as she slides into the booth next to him. “Was that Favs you were talking to?” 

"Yeah he's on the planning team for the fundraiser,” she explains. “I think he thought I was waving at him when I was waving at you, it was cute. Do you know him?"

“Not well. We’ve been in a couple poli sci classes together. He’s like, really smart. Bit of a suck up though.” Emily giggles at that. Tommy is the biggest teacher’s pet known to man, it’s how he gets away with so much shit. Tommy rolls his eyes in acknowledgment. “He’s in my seminar with [prof] this semester, so, probably talk to him more since it’s small.”

They move on from talking about Jon then, but something about Tommy’s tone makes the interaction stick in Emily’s mind for longer than it otherwise would have. Well, his tone and the way she sees Jon pretending not to be looking over at them three times in the next half hour.

 

* * *

  

“God I could kill for coffee,” Emily says, stretching performatively as Brooke sends the budget proposal for the fundraiser to the Student Government Finance Committee. “Anyone want to go to Starbucks?” 

“I’d be in but I have a stats exam tomorrow,” Brooke says and the others grimace sympathetically. 

“I’ve got class in an hour that I haven’t read for,” Matt says sheepishly. Emily makes a shooing motion at him. Soon, Emily and Jon are alone in the conference room 

“So, Jon,” Emily says with a smile. “Coffee?”

He looks a little surprised that she’s asked him. She’s only known him for a month, but Emily is pretty sure she’ll never get tired of the way Jon’s eyes light up when he’s invited to do something or to share his opinion. It has to happen all the time, she knows it happens all the time. Jon’s got like a million friends, he’s at the top of their class, his life seems pretty perfect, and yet he always looks like each good thing that happens to him is better than the last, even if that good thing is just an invitation to get Starbucks. 

“Sure!” he says happily, holding the door open for her. 

“I can’t believe that like, midterms are happening already,” Emily says as they walk towards the parking lot. “I mean, I don’t have any tests yet but I have two next week and now Brooke has made me all nervous.” 

Jon looks smug. “I don’t have any midterms.” 

“Ugh you fucking poli sci majors.” Jon laughs happily as she scowls at him. “Are you like Tommy and have no final exams either? I can drive if you want,” she adds as they reach her car. 

“Sure,” She hits the button to unlock it and he easily slides into the front seat. She has to turn the radio down when she turns the car on, wincing apologetically. 

“Sorry, I like to have it blasting in the morning, it wakes me up.” Jon laughs again, He has a good laugh. It ripples through his whole being like the wave in a stadium; every time she makes him laugh she notices a different part of it. Today, its that his ears seem to crinkle with it, even when he’s not laughing that hard. 

“I usually go for NPR in the morning, but I get your strategy,” Jon says. Emily smiles as she turns out of the parking lot. Tommy’s car stereo is pretty much always tuned to NPR. She knows he really loves her because he occasionally lets her replace it with the mixtape he made her for her nineteenth birthday. “But no, I have finals. I only have two though.” 

“Okay. I only have three and one of them is perfunctory. I hate you slightly less now.” 

“How many papers do you have though? With my thesis I’ve got three like twenty page or more papers due in the last week of classes, plus the performance component of piano.” 

“Ugh. I only have two ten-pagers thank God. And a presentation. I’m writing my thesis in the spring.” Emily grimaces in anticipation. Tommy’s got all the papers too, won’t stop bitching about them, especially their seminar paper. “You like writing though, don’t you?”

“Yeah I do,” Jon says sheepishly. “Rather write a paper than take a test any day. Though I’m not bad at either.”

“And very modest too.” Emily giggles and pulls into a parking spot. “Wait,” she says as Jon holds the door open for her to walk into the coffee shop. “Piano?” 

“Yeah,” he says, ducking his head. “Classical. I’ve been playing forever. I was going to do it for real at one point but…” he trails off with a shrug.

“I’d love to hear you play sometime,” Emily tells him and he smiles at her, suddenly looking shy. There’s a polite cough behind him and she realizes it’s her turn in line. “Grande iced caramel macchiato please.” 

She pays and steps to the side to the sound of Jon smothering a laugh. She turns in time to see him blush as he orders, “um, a grande iced caramel macchiato.” 

Emily giggles as Jon walks towards her. “Meant to be.” 

“Mhmm.” He bites his lip, staring at the counter. “You know what the worst part of it being midterms season is?” 

“What?” 

“We’re seniors. This is our second to last midterm season.” 

Emily shudders. “Why would you say that?” 

Jon’s response is cut off by the barista putting their drinks on the counter “Emily and Jon.” Jon reaches for both cups and passes one to her. 

When they’re sitting at one of the tall tables, she returns to the ever present topic at hand. “I don’t like thinking about how it’s our second last semester, cause I have no idea what comes next.” 

“Graduation is scary,” Jon agrees. “Maybe it’ll be better when we get jobs lined up?” 

“That’s a whole separate level of terrifying!” Emily complains. Job hunting is like, the most stressful part of her year by far. “What do you want to do, Jon?” 

“I dunno,” Jon looks thoughtful, speaking slowly like he’s choosing each word carefully to make sure it’s saying what he wants. “I don't know what exactly I want to do but I want to do something that makes a difference. I worked for Senator Kerry last summer and I’m kinda trying to do that after graduation. Maybe do a campaign. What about you?” 

“Ugh I don’t know!” she says. “I’m thinking I want to go the like, communications or public relations route. Maybe politics I don’t know. I was in DC last summer and really liked it so I’d like to go back there. I’m just applying to everything pretty much.” 

“I mean, same,” Jon says. “Job applications are, yeesh.” 

“They are,” Emily agrees. “Let’s talk about something else. Anything else. We’re going to see the new _Tuck Everlasting_ movie on Friday night. Have you read it?”

 

* * *

 

Tommy gets laid out with the flu right in early November. He misses a whole week of class, mostly because Emily shoves him back into bed when he tries to go to class despite being unable to speak or sit up for ten minutes at a time.

“Workaholic,” she accuses, sitting on his chest to make her point. “You should have gotten the damn flu shot.” Tommy wheezes and gently pushes her off, but he accedes and is asleep within ten minutes. 

When he’s finally feeling like a human again and returns to class, he won’t stop whining about how he’s going to be behind forever. Emily texts him after she gets out of class on Tuesday afternoon. “ _Are you drowned in books?”_  

He responds thirty seconds later, “ _I'm in the union with Jon. He offered to catch me up on seminar._ ” Emily giggles to herself as she changes course on the quad. Their seminar ended like two hours ago, so unless Jon is literally reciting the lecture word for word, they’re probably not getting all that much work done at this point.

Sure enough, when she finds them in the union they’re both leaning over Tommy’s laptop screen giggling. Emily pulls a chair up to their table and raises her eyebrows at them. “I didn’t know that World Series clips were part of the syllabus for Democratization and Nation-Building.” They both turn red and she laughs. 

“We got a solid hour of work in first!” Tommy protests. Em leans over to kiss his cheek. He still looks peaky, but at least he isn’t burning up anymore. 

“Hey, I’m not in charge of your work ethic,” she says, reaching in her backpack for her water bottle and settling in. “So Professor Walsh spent twenty minutes of class talking about his daughter’s swim meet this weekend.” 

“...Why?” Jon ventures. Em’s not looking at him but she’s willing to bet Tommy’s rolling his eyes, used to her complaints about this class.

“Your guess is as good as mine. I’m taking this behavioral economics class cause I thought it would be interesting and I had a free spot in my schedule but like, his definition of relevance is… loose.”

“Behavioral Economics is like, wide ranging though right? Maybe it will all connect in the end?” Jon offers.

“Oh honey,” Emily says pityingly, resting a hand on Jon’s shoulder. “How are you a senior and still so naive and trusting of professorial competence?”

She hadn’t planned it, is the thing. She’s just tactile, she’s always tactile, she’s casually touched Jon dozens of times before this moment. She’s not expecting Jon to freeze under her hand, going stiff as a board in his chair. Emily’s first instinct is to pull back, but something tells her to wait.

She turns her head slightly until she can see Tommy in the corner of her eye, see if he’s noticed. He… definitely has. He’s staring at the spot where she’s touching Jon with a funny look on his face, cheeks flushed, mouth slightly open and… oh!

It feels like a long time, but it’s probably only thirty seconds before Jon visibly swallows and responds. “I dunno. I’ve had good professors I guess?” 

“Yeah well this one is not,” Emily says definitively, dropping her hand to the table. “Anyway, did you see that they caught the Beltway sniper guys? That’ll make my mom happier about the idea of moving to DC after graduation.” 

The boys eagerly grab onto her change in subject and the conversation flows from there. It’s after seven o’clock before any of them think to look at the clock. 

“Fuck, I have so much work to do tonight,” Tommy yelps, starting to gather his stuff together. 

“Also, sleep.” Em gives him a look. “You’re going to get sick again.”

“Yeah don’t do that.” Jon looks as surprised at his interjection as Emily is. He shrugs. “I don’t like having to carry the whole argument in class when people are being dumb.” 

Tommy smirks at him slightly. “I’ll try. See you Thursday?” 

“See you then.” Jon grins. “Tomorrow night Em?” 

“Yep! Brooke and I finished the budget yesterday so thank god we should finally be able to get that part over with.” Jon starts clapping for her as she gets up from the table and she takes a little bow, laughing, before heading for the door. “See you tomorrow!” 

Tommy spends the rest of the night furiously working on Em’s couch, barely pausing when she heats up leftover pasta for dinner. He pretty much ignores Alex when she comes in with a story about the ongoing casting drama in the experimental theater show. Emily shuts her own books at eleven and walks over to lean on his shoulders until he looks up and lets her tug him to her room. 

“How are you not sick?” he asks irritatedly when they’re curled up in bed.

“I have a strong immune system. And I got a fucking _flu shot_.” Emily says. Tommy grumbles without any force behind it and she tucks her face into his chest. He still smells a little like the stale sweat of the fever, but mostly she’s inhaling the familiar sharpness of his deodorant that she associates with home and safety just as much as the smell of the sea air in Maine or the old books in her dad’s office. She tangles her fingers in his t-shirt and takes a deep breath before asking the question that’s been on her mind all afternoon. “Hey Tommy?” 

“Yeah?” 

“Do you…” Em pushes up on an elbow to look at his face. “Do you have a thing for Jon?” 

Tommy sits up with a force that almost knocks her off the bed. “What! Emily!”

“I’m so-” Emily’s opening her mouth to apologize, but that wasn’t a denial. It wasn’t even close to a denial. So she sits cross-legged and looks at him, waiting. “Tommy.” 

“God Em.” He rakes a hand over his face to tug at his own hair. “I’m… I don’t… I guess…” He won’t meet her eyes. “A little,” he finally admits, sounding wretched. “Fuck. I’m sorry.” 

This is not going the way Emily wants it to go. She reaches for Tommy’s chin and tilts his face up. “Why are you sorry?”

“Um. Because I’m dating you and I apparently didn’t do as well at quashing a random crush as I should have?” Tommy explains slowly, like he’s talking to a small child.

Emily’s brain goes completely silent for a second. She’s been thinking about this all day and she missed the most obvious angle. Fuck. “Tommy. Do you. Do you not want to…” She can’t get the words out. 

“No Em no! Emily!” Tommy squeezes her hands and she lets out the breath she didn’t know she was holding. “I love you. I’m in love with you. I want to spend every minute with you. I’m so sorry, god I’ve fucked this all up.” 

Emily blinks a couple times and wills her heart rate to calm down. Focus Em, go back to the beginning. “Okay believe it or not, I didn’t start this conversation thinking you wanted to leave me.” 

Tommy makes a desperate noise and she starts rubbing circles on the back of his hands without really thinking about it. 

“You haven’t fucked anything up Tommy.” She bites her lip. “I actually, oh fuck it. I might have a bit of a crush on him too?” Tommy freezes. “And I love you and want to be with you too, don’t freak out,” she adds in a rush. 

“So what, you want to proposition him for a threesome?” Tommy asks, clearly aiming for a joke. It falls flat. 

“Kind of?” His eyes go wide. “I’m still trying to figure it out, but I want to figure it out with you. I don’t think I mean just sex. Like he’s hot as hell, obviously.” Tommy twists his face in acknowledgement. “But he’s so smart and confident and yet when you catch him off guard he’s sweet and a little nerdy.” 

“Yeah he is.” Tommy smiles in a way that would make her jealous if…

“I think I want to like, date him. Date both of you. Like, all three of us. Dating. Fuck this sounds crazy.” 

“No Em, I… It sounds a little crazy.” He doesn’t look like he thinks it’s crazy. He looks like he’s, awed. He looks like he’s in love. “I don’t begin to know how to do that. But I… yeah.” 

“Eloquent,” Emily teases him and he reaches out to tickle her in retribution.

When she’s collapsed against him, gasping, he speaks again. “I need to think about this. We need to talk about it a lot more probably. But yeah Em, it’s, something I’d be… interested in.” 

“Okay,” she says, voice wavering. “Tommy. I love you.” 

“Love you too,” he says into her hair. “We should sleep now, talk more later.”

 

* * *

 

“Hey Em,” Tommy says. It’s the Friday before finals week and she's curled up in the corner of the couch with her notes for her first final. Tommy’s just come in from wherever one goes when they’re finished with all their papers and only have one test at the end of the week. Emily is not bitter at all.

“Yeah?” 

“How dedicated are you to getting work done tonight?” Tommy asks, plopping down next to her. Emily closes her notebook and looks at him considering. He’s fidgety and nervous which is, weird. He’s supposed to be less stressed with his papers turned in and his lit review done, but he looks more keyed up than he looked last night, running on less than four hours of sleep in two days.

“It depends,” Emily says, winking at him exaggeratedly. “How good is your offer?” He doesn’t crack a grin or flush at that, just keeps twisting his fingers anxiously. “Tommy?” 

“I was thinking… I didn’t like, mean to like, creep...But I just saw…” Normally Emily can parse out Tommy’s half sentences. Today, she’s totally lacking the context that’s making him all stumbly. 

“Hey, babe,” she says, reaching across the couch to squeeze his hand. “Spit it out, what’s up?” 

“I… Okay,” Tommy says with a grimace. “So I totally unintentionally, accidentally on purpose saw Jon’s notebook.” Emily raises her eyebrows at him. 

She should have known immediately that Jon was involved. That explains how wired he is. After she first brought it up a month ago, Tommy had gone completely silent about Jon for about a week. She hadn’t even gotten stories about argument team-ups in their seminar. Then he’d shyly asked if she was still thinking about it and, like a dam breaking, he started articulating all the same thoughts floating around in Emily’s head, all the time. 

“Snoop,” she says lightly. Tommy winces, but presses on. 

“Look I wasn’t snooping, it was on the table when we got lunch!” Tommy says defensively. “Anyway, his piano recital is tonight, and I like, looked it up on the school calendar and it's a whole thing that’s open to the public so I thought…” 

“Ooh can we go?” Emily says, sitting up from her corner in interest. When they’d toured the ballroom where the fundraiser is being held she’d briefly gotten Jon to the piano in the corner of the room. He’d giggled his way through “The Entertainer,” and, yeah, Jon playing the piano is just as much as she’d anticipated it would be. She’s dying to see him play for real. 

“Why not?” Tommy shrugs. “I asked him about it at one point and he seemed like shy modest not shy anxious about it. Like he didn’t want anyone to feel obligated to go.” 

“Of course he didn’t,” Emily says fondly. For all that he’s confident about his abilities, Jon is so shy about asking for attention for them, getting all mumbly in receipt of compliments. “Yeah, we should go. I’ll study tomorrow.” 

The recital is in the smaller theater of the performing arts building. There’s a surprising amount of people present, though the lion’s share seem to be professors. Emily doesn’t know a whole lot about classical music, but it’s a pretty enjoyable concert. It’s organized in ascending order of course level, so Jon is near the end. 

Emily’s stomach swoops when Jon walks out on the stage, looking slightly stiff in his tux. Judging by the squeeze of Tommy’s hand around hers, he’s similarly stricken. All of the tension she can see in Jon’s body vanishes when he sits at the piano bench and starts to play. 

It’s beautiful. Emily has never wished she knew more about music like she does listening to Jon play piano, because she can tell he’s _good_ but she wants to know how good. She wants to know how much work has gone into the control of his fingers gliding and then flying over the keys. She wants to know how difficult, how technical the shifts in sound and volume are. She wants to know how many times he’s played this piece, that he doesn’t seem to be glancing at the music in front of him or at his fingers on the keys, looking lost in the sound.  

Jon told Tommy once that he could have gone with the piano. Tommy relayed the conversation to Emily in tones of awe, his own fingers idly strumming the guitar he loves but has never been serious about. After a particularly trying day in their seminar, Jon had admitted that he could have played piano professionally, if he’d done just a little more, if he’d gone to one of the conservatories that accepted him, rather than a liberal arts college with a tiny, though strong, music program. As it is, he plays because he loves it, plays because the music is part of him, plays for the joy of it without the obligations and stresses of making it a job. 

The music stops and it takes a second for Emily to come back down, for the echoes of the melody to stop vibrating through her head. Tommy is clutching her hand so hard it hurts. She wants to jump to her feet, wants to cheer at the top of her lungs, wants to hug Jon tight and cover those talented fingers with kisses. Instead, she tugs her hand free of Tommy’s grasp to clap politely in unison with the rest of the audience. When Jon’s ducked his head in appreciation and left the stage, replaced by a string quartet, she looks over at Tommy, whose eyes are shining. Emily leans in her seat to press her lips to his suspiciously wet cheek and he tilts his head to follow her as she pulls back.

There are three more performances, but Emily doesn’t retain a single detail and she’d bet quite a lot that Tommy doesn’t either. After the concert ends, they join the smaller clump of roommates and friends and partners in the corner of the lobby while the musicians talk to their professors and other important looking adults. When the serious conversations start to conclude and the crowd dissipates in knots of bubbly excited students, Emily starts to feel a little nervous. What if Jon’s annoyed that they like, stalked his recital? 

She needn’t have worried. Jon’s one of the last students to say goodbye to his professor. He doesn’t look like he’s paying a lot of attention as he ambles across the lobby, loosening his bowtie as he shuffles something in the bag thrown over his shoulder. He looks up and catches sight of Emily and Tommy and breaks into a grin that covers his whole face. 

“What are you guys doing here!” Jon exclaims, bounding across the floor to stop in front of them.

“You know us,” Tommy says sarcastically. “We love to hang out in random academic buildings on Friday nights.” Jon giggles at him, color flooding his cheeks. Em reaches out to give him a quick hug. 

“You were so good Jon, oh my god!” Emily gushes, delighted when Jon’s face turns even more red. 

“Um… Thank you,” Jon says awkwardly. It sounds more comfortable and sincere when he adds, “Thank you guys so much for coming, honestly, you didn’t have to do that. I really appreciate it.”

“‘Course,” Tommy says easily. “You guys hungry? I’m feeling pancakes.” 

They end up at IHOP until two am. Jon and Tommy put away a truly shocking amount of pancakes while Emily eggs them on over her own empty plate and five mugs of hot chocolate.

 

* * *

 

Emily doesn’t sleep for a week before the fundraiser. Every minute she’s not in class she’s calling their vendors to confirm all the details, running over her spreadsheets for the millionth time, sitting in a conference room with Jon and Brooke, papers flying between them. She only eats because Tommy tracks her down regularly, throwing sandwiches at them. 

Jon picks her up at her apartment at eight am on Friday with coffee and a breakfast sandwich and they spend the day overseeing set up of the ballroom. By four o’clock, Emily’s surveying their masterpiece, exhausted but proud. “You think we’ve got enough hearts in this room?” Jon asks and she shoves at his shoulder, giggling. 

“It looks good!” 

“It does,” Jon agrees, smiling at her. The warmth in his eyes makes her stomach flip. “Come on, I’ve got to get you home to change, we’ve only got like two hours.” 

The night is perfect. Emily basks in the glow of their success all night, Tommy’s arm around her, Jon grinning at her every time their eyes meet. Brooke and Matt are technically in charge of takedown but Emily and Jon are still there a half an hour after everyone’s left, sorting through leftover favors. 

Emily is pleasantly buzzed on alcohol and joy and judging by the pink in Jon’s cheeks, he’s at the same level. They’re chatting idly when he looks at her, suddenly serious. “Is it weird I’m kinda sad to be done planning this?” he asks and she raises her eyebrows. “I don’t know, I’m going to miss hanging out with you.” 

She’s charmed and then affronted as he looks away from her. “Jonathan Favreau!” she says sharply. “What are you on about you’re going to miss hanging out with me, we’re friends aren’t we?” 

“We...are?” Jon says uncertainly. 

“We are,” Emily says firmly. She doesn’t know if it’s his vulnerability or her sentimentality or her impatience that makes her continue, too earnest by half. “Jon, I’m so glad we’ve gotten to know each other this year. And yeah, we started hanging out because of the fundraiser but I hope that isn’t the only reason you hang out with me. It’s not the only reason I hang out with you; I like you.” 

She’s not expecting it, is the thing. She’s been daydreaming about it and running through a million scenarios in her head. Last week she texted Tommy, _plan e: can you write a song about your feelings?_ But no matter how much she’s thought about it, Emily is not prepared for the reality of Jon stepping towards her and bending his head to kiss her.  

There isn’t time for her to do anything before Jon’s pulling back, looking horrified. Say something, say something. “Jon, it’s oka-” 

“Sorry. Sorry. I’m sorry!” he says frantically and then he’s turning on his heel and running out of the room. 

Emily is frozen in place. Shit. That was not part of plans A through G. 

 

* * *

 

Jon avoids both Emily and Tommy for the whole weekend. He won’t answer texts or phone calls. Emily bites her nails down to nothing, checking her phone every five seconds until Tommy takes it away from her and drags her to the couch to curl up and watch _Clueless_.  

After Jon skips the class they share on Monday, Tommy texts Emily. _Okay that’s enough_ . As soon as she gets out of her own class they go over to his apartment and knock on the door. His roommate opens it, looking like a deer in headlights when he sees them.  
  
“Hey Josh, is Favs here?” Tommy asks. Josh falters under his stare, mumbling something incoherent. “Okay.” Tommy pushes past him through the door. “Jon!” 

Josh steps aside reluctantly to let Emily into the apartment as Jon pokes his head out of his bedroom door. His face is drawn and pale under three days of scruff and judging by the bags under his eyes he’s barely slept since she saw him last. Emily’s heart hurts just looking at him.

“Thanks Josh, good looking out,” Jon says darkly. 

Josh throws his hands up in the air. “Dude I have to go to class, I’m not your bodyguard.” He grabs his backpack and darts for the door, leaving the three of them alone in the apartment. 

They stand in awkward silence for a minute before Jon mumbles, “Look guys I’m really sorry. I know you don’t want to like be friends with me anymore. I get it,  I fucked up.” He moves to slide back into his room, but Tommy reaches out and grabs his arm and tugs him out into the hallway instead. 

“What the actual fuck! How stupid are you?” Tommy says sharply, voice rising as he looms over Jon. Tommy is not following the plan. He looks totally flabbergasted and Emily gets it. Jon thinks they’ve been calling him for three days and tracked him down to his apartment because they never want to speak to him again? 

Jon looks scared. He’s shrinking back in Tommy’s grip like he thinks Tommy might hit him. This is going nowhere good so Emily pulls herself from the spot she’s been frozen in since Jon appeared in his doorway. She slowly approaches them and puts what she hopes is a calming hand on Tommy’s shoulder. “Can we sit? Let’s sit.” 

Jon’s apartment, like most college guys’ apartments, is sparsely decorated and messy. Emily’s been here once before, briefly, when he forgot his wallet and they were meeting Tommy for dinner after a planning meeting. The living room walls are inartfully adorned with sports memorabilia: a couple Red Sox pennants, a poster of Fenway, a 3D Patriots helmet, a KC Royals hat. Jon’s keyboard sits in the corner like it’s an afterthought and not a prized possession. The room smells vaguely like stale beer, probably spilled on the carpet during a party months or years ago. 

But there’s a shitty couch and armchair surrounding a coffee table that was definitely picked out by someone’s mom, which is a slightly better venue for this conversation than the hallway. Jon sits awkwardly in the chair so Emily and Tommy drop to the couch, all three of them tense on the edge of the seats.  
  
Jon starts to mumble what sounds like it’s going to be another apology so Emily reaches out and grabs his hand in both of hers. “Jon, shut up okay?” she says softly and he does, actually looking at her for the first time since she walked into his apartment. He looks confused and thrown off balance. She smiles in what she hopes is a reassuring way. “So first of all we don’t hate you and we _definitely_ still want to be friends with you, idiot.”

“But... but..” Jon gapes between them. Emily is so in love with him she can’t stand it. He’s been beating himself up for three days thinking that they hated him because he kissed her.

“We have been _trying_ to talk to you. We literally came to your house.” Tommy says, voice rising again. Emily shoots him a look and he bites his lip.  
  
Emily squeezes Jon’s hand. “Jon, we lo- we care about you a lot okay? No matter what.”  
  
Jon visibly swallows and looks down at his lap. “yeah... Em, I am so sorry. I shouldn’t have...”  
  
Emily can’t sit still anymore while he’s sitting there looking like that. She gets up from the couch and takes the two steps around the edge of the coffee table until she’s right in front of him, perching on the table and leaning towards him. Jon’s still staring at the floor so she sighs and reaches out to grab his chin and tilt his face up. Jon looks at her, anguished. This was not part of any of her plans.

“You’re an idiot,” she says softly and then she leans in and kisses him. Jon freezes when her lips touch his, but just when she starts to pull back, he shifts, pressing in against her, kissing her back.

Then, abruptly Jon pulls back “But you guys... but...”

 Emily hears rather than sees Tommy stand up, her eyes still fixed on Jon. Tommy moves around the table to stand next to them. Emily looks between them carefully. Jon is cringing back defensively again, but Tommy slowly leans down, putting a hand on Jon’s shoulder.  
  
“Hey,” he says softly and Jon looks up into his face. “Can I?” Tommy continues, hand sliding up Jon’s shoulder to his neck and Jon tilts his face up to meet Tommy’s.  
  
After they break apart, Tommy turns over his shoulder to look at Emily and says with forced casualness, “Was that what you were hoping for?”

Despite the tenseness of the air around them, Emily can’t help but laugh at his attempt to be suave. “Your back was kinda in the way? You’re going to have to do it again so I can see.”  
  
Jon is super flushed as he stammers, “Guys I... I’m super flattered and you’re both super attractive people obviously but... I don’t think I can.”  
  
Emily feels her stomach drop. Tommy slides an arm around her shoulders as he sits down next to her on the table. Fuck. “What? Jon.”  
  
“I just...” he takes a deep breath. “Nothing wrong with threesomes or whatever. Whatever floats your boat guys really, but. I dont think it’s a great idea to fuck around with people I... have feelings for?”  
  
Oh. _Oh_. 

“Jon!” Em says desperately. She turns to look at Tommy accusingly. “This is why all the plans had talking before doing.”  
  
Tommy looks affronted “I’m not the one who...” Emily cuts him off with a gesture and leans in towards Jon, reaching for his hand again.  
  
“Jon, we don’t want to have sex with you.” There’s a choked noise from behind her as Jon turns bright red with embarrassment in front of her. God she wants to know if that blush goes all the way down. “I mean we _do_ . But we don’t just want to have sex with you. We want to date you.”  
  
Jon looks super perplexed, which, okay. “You what?”

Emily sighs and leans towards him. He doesn’t pull away.  “Jon I like you. Like, a lot. Tommy does too.”

“I do,” Tommy confirms.  
  
“It kinda seems like you like us too. So we would like to date you. Like all three of us, together, doing a relationship thing.” Emily makes a face at how awkward she sounds. “It’s... I’m not sure it’s going to be easy? We have to do a lot better at communicating. But I’m very into trying if you guys are”  
  
Tommy is rubbing slow reassuring circles on her back. “You know I’m game,” he says, looking at Jon.  
  
“Fuck. I...” Jon looks stunned but happy.  “Yeah. Yes. I’d like that.”  
  
Emily grins and gets off the coffee table to climb into Jon’s lap, wrapping a hand around the back of his neck. He looks down at her, “You’re sure?”  
  
“Yes, you moron.” She tugs him down to kiss her.  which he does happily. Later Emily will swear that this is their first kiss. No one is surprised or scared, they only pull away to come up for air.  
  
Tommy is right there beside them and when they finally separate he reaches for Jon’s face and kisses him soundly. “Better?” He winks at Emily who laughs and tugs him down towards her to kiss her too.  
  
Jon is breathless. “So...”  
  
“So I’m willing to bet you haven’t really eaten while you’ve been holed up here the past few days moping.” Emily says. “Let’s go get dinner?”  
  
Jon smiles at her ruefully. “Yeah.” 

They go to their favorite restaurant just like it’s any other day after classes. Emily slides into the booth next to Jon and leans against him until he tentatively slips an arm around her shoulders.  Tommy is tapping one foot against hers under the table and she’d bet a lot he’s doing the same to Jon with his other foot.  
  
The check comes and Tommy glares at Jon when he goes to pull out his wallet. “I’ve got it.” 

In Tommy’s car on the way home from the restaurant, Em twists to look at Jon in the backseat as they approach the turn off for her apartment. She feels suddenly shy as she asks, “So, you want to come over?” 

Jon flushes. “I mean. If you… I don’t want to intrude.” 

Tommy laughs and signals the turn. “Dude, of course we want.” Emily reaches back for his hand and he squeezes hers tightly as Tommy pulls into the parking lot. 

When they get in the apartment they all hover awkwardly inside the door for a minute after shedding their coats. Okay, Emily thinks, do something. She reaches out for Jon, who still looks like he’s not sure he’s allowed to be here, going up on her toes to kiss him, arms sliding around his neck.  
  
They make their way to her bedroom half making out, half giggling. Emily almost trips over a shoe Alex left in the hallway and Tommy reaches out to steady her. Her back hits the door and she leans back to push it open and turn Jon into the room. Emily drags Jon’s shirt over his head and pushes him down onto her bed while he’s shrugging out of his jeans.

She pulls her own shirt off as she climbs up to straddle him on the bed. It’s even headier than she had dared to think, having Jon laid out in front of her like this. He still looks nervous so she leans down to kiss him, sliding her hands over his chest.  

She takes her time, exploring his face, his neck, his chest with her hands and her mouth. Dragging her teeth against his shoulder earns her a sharp intake of breath, rolling her hips lightly against his gets a low moan. She runs her fingers over his nipples experimentally and there’s no other word for it, Jon squeaks. “No?” Emily asks, pulling back. 

“No no it’s good.” Jon is flushing all the way down his chest. “Do it again.” This time she uses a bit more pressure, rolling a nail in to hear his gasp. She notices Jon looking over her shoulder as she leans in to try her teeth on his nipples and pauses. 

“You just going to watch, Tom?” Emily asks, as lightly as she can. She knows he’s enjoying this and she doesn’t mind him watching all night, but Jon’s looking nervous again. As much as she loves watching him go red, she also wants to give him the reassurance he needs that they’re in this, all of them, together. 

“No,” Tommy says and Em doesn’t need to be looking at him to know his eyes have gone dark and intent. “Finish what you were doing first though.” She gives Jon a quick smile and bends down to suck his nipple into his mouth, prompting his loudest moan yet. 

Jon’s eyes close and Emily idly runs her fingers down his chest until the bed sinks down as Tommy sits down behind her. He leans in to kiss Emily’s shoulder and caress her back before his hands slide down to Jon’s hips.

 Emily slides to the side to the sound of Jon’s sharp intake of breath just in time to see Tommy’s hands find the waistband of Jon’s boxers. “Okay?” Tommy asks.

“Um, yes!” Jon might be embarrassed later by the pitch and eagerness of his reply. If he is, Emily will gladly point out the way Tommy grins like a kid on Christmas morning as he pulls Jon’s boxers down and settles between his legs. If Tommy protests, which he won’t, she can tell them how she could barely stop watching long enough to settle into a comfortable position by Jon’s head.

Emily leans back against the pillows as Tommy stops teasing and opens his mouth around Jon’s dick. She twines her fingers through his hair as his whole body arches up, his head falling back against her thigh. It doesn’t take long, Jon’s been hard since they got into the apartment, maybe before, and Emily knows she wound him up tight. He comes with a gasp, Emily stroking his head, Tommy lightly tracing circles on his thigh as he pulls off.  
  
Jon’s breathing hard as Tommy leans up over him to kiss him sloppily before reaching for Emily. He’s barely caught his breath by the time they separate and he reaches a hand out across Em’s legs. “Um… can I?”  

Emily can’t hold in a giggle, high and loose. “Of course!” Tommy shifts to let Jon roll out from under him. She lifts her hips and they work together to drag her pants and underwear off. Jon pushes gently against her thighs until she’s widened them to his satisfaction. Then he finally gets his tongue on her. 

This, Jon is not uncertain about. Emily’s thought about this, a lot, but in the moment she finds herself lost in the sure movement of his mouth and his hands. “Little bit of teeth,” Tommy says roughly as Jon kisses her inner thigh, thumb circling her clit. Jon takes the advice and her hips push up without conscious intent and she’s coming with a cry.

She comes back to herself to Jon and Tommy kissing over her. Emily tugs Jon down to meet her lips before pushing his shoulders to roll them over. She rests on top of him for a minute before kissing down his neck and turning to reach for Tommy. 

“You want to...?” he asks. 

“Yeah, c’mere.” Tommy shoves his boxers down with a slightly pained grimace and reaches for a condom on the nightstand before settling over top of Emily and Jon.

“What... Oh!” Jon gets with the program pretty quickly, shifting to let Emily lie back against him. His hands tighten on her sides as Tommy lines himself up to slide into Emily. 

“He’s been talking about this.” Emily says breathlessly to watch Tommy turn red. Jon groans; he’s definitely hard again against her back. “Fucking me into your chest, where he can lean up and kiss you.” To illustrate her point, Tommy does, Jon tilting forwards to meet him. 

Tommy drops his head to nip at Emily’s shoulder. “You’re too coherent,” he murmurs. 

“Do something about it then.” Jon makes a choked noise as Tommy takes the challenge and picks up the pace. Jon shifts behind Emily to get a hand between their bodies as her head falls back against his shoulder. Her boys don’t come in unison but it’s pretty close. Tommy reaches a hand between her legs as he pulls out and she follows them over the edge. 

“Wow,” Jon says softly, an indeterminate amount of time later. Tommy has collapsed on top of Emily, blanketing her in sweaty warmth as she twists to kiss Jon’s cheek. 

“You need to shave,” she tells him gently, not helping her case by continuing to pepper his face and neck with kisses, because she _can_.  

“Yeah, I’ve been a little pre-occupied,” Jon replies ruefully. “Sorry about the beard burn.” 

“Oh I’m not complaining about _that_!” Emily giggles and Jon flushes. Oh this is going to be fun, she can tell. Three years in, she’s starting to run out of ways to make Tommy blush about sex, this is a whole new realm to explore. She’s just so, happy. “I’m just sad you were so worried all weekend babe.”  

The pet name slips out without conscious thought, but the way Jon’s eyes light up makes Emily’s stomach flip with delight. She’s known she’s pretty far gone on him. Having him seems like it’s going to be better than she hoped.

“Don’t be sad Em.” Jon’s hand comes up to stroke her cheek and she smiles at him. He looks adorably uncertain when he continues, “it’s all good now?” 

“Yes honey, it’s very very good.” She’s surprised when that makes Jon shiver, eyes watering. “Hey, hey.” Emily reaches a hand up to stroke his face, pressing her forehead into his cheek. “Hey sweetie, love, it’s okay, it’s all good.” 

Jon shakes with emotion under her touch for a few minutes while Emily murmurs nonsense at him. Then he takes a deep breath, seeming to regain control. “Is Tommy like, dead?” he asks weakly, looking over Emily’s head. 

She giggles, dropping a hand to Tommy's head to tangle in his hair. “He gets like this. Tom, babe? You’re squishing me, scootch over.” With extreme reluctance and a grumpy mumble, he rolls off of her. Emily leans over to kiss his shoulder and then adjusts herself so she’s lying beside Jon instead of on top of him.

Tommy’s head lands on Jon’s hip as Emily cuddles back up on his shoulder. It doesn’t take long for Emily to fall asleep, cozy against them. 

 

* * *

 

Emily’s scrambling eggs when Jon wanders into the kitchen in the morning. “Hey sleepyhead,” she says affectionately. He’s wearing his boxers and a t-shirt that definitely belongs to Tommy and must have been on her dresser or something. 

“I was tired,”Jon says. “You wore me out.” She giggles and reaches into the cupboard for a mug to pour him a cup of coffee. He takes the mug from her outstretched hands gratefully, eyes sliding up and down. “Didn’t know you played lacrosse,” he laughs, with a nod at the hoodie she’s wearing with shorts. 

“Tommy’s.” Emily states the obvious with a shrug. “Scrambled eggs okay? We only make real breakfast on the weekends usually, but I figured…”

“Eggs are great, can I do anything to help?” Jon says, leaning back against the wall. Emily waves him off and they chat idly while she moves the spatula until the front door flies open. 

“Eugh you’re all sweaty!” Emily complains as Tommy bounds into the room and leans in to bracket her against the counter. 

“Yep and you love it,” he counters. “You didn’t burn your mouth tasting the eggs again did you?” 

“One time Thomas! One time!” Emily giggles as Tommy bends to kiss her. They notice the slightly uncomfortable look on Jon’s face at the same time as they break apart. He looks like he’s worried he’s intruding, not sure he belongs here.

Tommy reaches across the kitchen with his stupidly long arms to tug at the hem of Jon’s shirt, well, his shirt. “Hey,” Tommy says when Jon’s in front of him. He slides a hand up Jon’s side to his face and pulls him in for his own kiss. “Good morning. I’m glad you’re here.” 

“I… me too,” Jon says earnestly.

Emily reaches out with the hand that’s not wrapped around Tommy’s back to tousle Jon’s sleep rumpled hair gently. “Me three.”


End file.
